My thoughts on the Phillies season.

Phils let one slip away as they lose to the Cubs, 4-3.

The Phils let a winnable game slip out of their fingers as Ryan Madson gives up a solo home run in relief as the Phils lose to the Cubs, 4-3.

The Phils took a 1-0 lead in the fourth as, with one out, Shane Victorino hits a solo home run, his fifteenth home run of the year, to give the Phils a 1-0 lead. The Cubs would tie the game up at one-all in the fifth as, with the bases loaded, via a single to Aramis Ramirez, a walk to Alfonso Soriano, moving Ramirez up to second base, a Starlin Castro ground out, 6-3, which would send Ramirez to third and Soriano to second, and an intentional walk to Geovany Soto, and with two men out, Cubs’ starter Ted Lily receives a walk, forcing in Ramirez, which moving Soriano to third and Soto up to second base. The Phils retook the lead in the sixth as, with a runner on base, and with two men out, Ryan Howard hits a two-run home run, his third in two games and his twentieth home run of the season, knocking in Jayson Werth, who had earlier walked, and then went to second on a Lily wild pitch, to give the Phils a 3-2 lead. The Cubs would tie the game up at three-all in their half of the sixth as, with a runner on second and with two men out, Marlon Byrd hits a two-run home run, his tenth home run of the season, scoring Ramirez, who had earlier doubled. The Cubs took the lead in the eighth as, with two men out, Ramirez hits a solo home run, his eleventh home run of the year, giving the Cubs a 4-3 lead. That would be the final score as Carlos Marmol collected his seventeenth save as he struck out the side.

Joe Blanton gets a no-decision as he pitches seven innings, giving up three runs on five hits and three walks, while striking out eight. Ryan Madson took the lost as he gives up a run on one hit. His record is now 2-1 with a 6.57 ERA. Ted Lily also receives a no-decision as he gives up three runs on four hits and a walk, while striking out ten. Sean Marshall gets the win as he pitches a 1-2-3 inning, striking out a batter. His record is now 6-2 with an ERA of 1.96. Carlos Marmol collects his seventeenth save of the year as he pitches a 1-2-3 inning, striking out the side.

The Phils had only four hits in the game, with Shane Victorino, Ryan Howard, Cody Ransom and Carlos Ruiz each collecting a hit, with Victorino’s hit being a solo home run, Howard’s hit being a two-run home run and Ransom and Ruiz’s hits both being singles. The offense could not get anything going, as they were kept off-balanced by Lily and the Cubs’ bullpen.

The Phils (47-42, 3rd NL East) will continue their series with the Cubs (42-40, 4th NL Central) with an afternoon game tomorrow. The game will be played at Wrigley Field and will begin at 1:05 pm Eastern (12:05 pm Central). The Phils will send to the mound Cole Hamels (7-7, 3.78), who is coming off a win against the Reds on July 11, as he gave up just six hits and three walks in seven and two-thirds innings of work, while striking out three, in the Phils’ 1-0 win. In his last three starts, he is 1-1 with a no-decision, as he pitched twenty-one and two-thirds innings, giving up six runs on nineteen hits and eight walks, while striking out nineteen batters. He will be going for his eighth win of the season, while trying to stop the Phils’ recent two-game slide. The Cubs will counter with Randy Wells (4-7, 4.61), who is coming off a lost to the Dodgers on July 8, when he pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk, while striking out seven, in the Cubs’ 3-2 lost. In his last three starts, he is also 1-1 with a no-decision, as he pitched twenty and two-thirds innings, giving up five runs on fourteen hits and six walks, while striking out nineteen. He will be trying to see if he can add to the Phils’ present troubles. The Phils need to bounce back after losing the first two games in the series, to keep from falling any deeper behind the Braves in the NL East.

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.